Rezoning for Manheim, Pa., Auto Auction's Expansion Is Appealed.

Byline: David O'Connor

Aug. 30--Almost a year after the Manheim Auto Auction got the go-ahead to plan for a major expansion, some neighboring residents still "don't want them to take another acre of farmland."

A citizens' appeal of a rezoning that would pave the way for the auction expansion, approved in September 2000 by the Penn Township supervisors, was to be heard today in Lancaster County Court.

Some residents living near the auction, which is on Route 72 south of Manheim, want the county court to overturn a March ruling by the township's zoning hearing board. The zoners backed the earlier supervisors' decision to rezone farmland on Power Road next to the auction.

This afternoon's 1:30 p.m. hearing was to be held before Judge Lawrence Stengel.

The auction, the Manheim area's leading employer, has said it needs the room to grow and to consolidate operations so it can stay "viable and competitive" in coming years.

But Carol Hummer of the citizens group Smart Growth for Manheim, which has opposed the expansion, said residents "have always said, from the very beginning, "No, not another acre,' and we don't want anyone to lose their jobs.